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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 3h

Absolutely! It's not one or the other, good bike infrastructure helps people get to our buses easier as well, and something like a bike share program means you can drop it off right at the stop and not worry! We obviously also need to improve transit too!

- Marko

Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 1d

We heard from many groups today about the Tewin development. This is unfortunately going to be a development that further entrenches us into unsustainable sprawl.

Property taxes have not and will not be able to provide long-term support for these types of developments. We have decades of evidence.

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11h

Unfortunately data is never enough for people who make decisions based on culture wars.

The data could show 100% compliance and 0 accidents after installation and they would still try to rip these cameras out to make our streets more dangerous.

It is still amazing to see how clearly these work!

Pat Bickerton @pbickerton.bsky.social · 9d

City wide graphs of the effects of ASE camera installation on the percent of high-end speeders, and general speed limit compliance. These cameras work

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 11h

Amazing, really hope to see something coming soon! Giving people affordable alternatives to driving makes our city better for everyone! Less traffic, more exercise, safer roads, less infrastructure needed, etc...

Shawn Menard @shawnmenard.bsky.social · 12h

I’m at a bike share conference today and very enthusiastic to bring this momentum to the City of #Ottawa. Some news coming soon for our city, Gatineau and the NCC. #Ottnews

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2d

Another reminder that a 13-year study found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users.

ALL ROAD USERS.

And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all.

For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them.

Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org

Separated Bike Lanes Means Safer Streets, Study Says — Streetsblog USA

Cities that build protected lanes for cyclists end up with safer roads for people on bikes and people in cars and on foot, a new study of 12 large metropolises revealed Wednesday.

usa.streetsblog.org

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 1d

We heard from many groups today about the Tewin development. This is unfortunately going to be a development that further entrenches us into unsustainable sprawl.

Property taxes have not and will not be able to provide long-term support for these types of developments. We have decades of evidence.

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Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 4d

So #IfIWasMayor: automatic 40km/h within city urban and suburban areas (as basic starting point); no right on red inside city; make case for anything above 40 with study to prove its needed/beneficial; auto sep bike infra, raised ped crossings on every street build; end shave&pave w/out infra

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School Streets Ottawa @schoolstreetsyow.bsky.social · 4d

Is Ottawa school zone safety negotiable?

🚷Delays to sidewalk builds
🚦School Street policy red lighted
📸 Automated Speed Enforcement to be cut down by Doug Ford

📣 No! Tell the Mayor to stand up to the province and anyone who makes communities less safe.

schoolstreetsottawa.ca/2025/10/11/o...

Ottawa Streets Are Not Safe For Kids – A Call to Action to Keep ASE, Have Sidewalks and School Streets

Ottawa Streets are not safe for kids – losing ASE will make it worse

schoolstreetsottawa.ca

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No one can spell Keira @keiraclarke.bsky.social · 7d

oh look it's the current bank street bus lanes plan

Jake Tobin @jaketobin.bsky.social · 7d

Why is this every city sign

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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 7d

Imagine if #OttCity invested in e-bike rebate (say, $1000 per bike, x 1000/year); that’s a rounding error in the city budget but would lift 1000 ppl per year with better transit options; make income based; create secondary stream for youth; add cargo bikes; expand w/better bike infra and bike share

Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 7d

since denver launched its e-bike rebate program - the have sold 10,000 e-bikes and reduced an estimated 1,000,000 car trips - replacing millions of VMTs and reducing air pollution

there are no climate silver bullets... but damn - e-bikes and e-cargo bikes are close

denvergov.org/Government/A...

Denver Celebrates 10,000 E-Bike Rebates

Since its inception in April 2022, Denver has distributed over 10,000 electric bikes (e-bikes) to community members through its pioneering e-bike rebate program. As the first U.S. city to implement su...

denvergov.org

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Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 7d

Canadians: “We the north! I love hockey, skiing, and taking my kids sledding. Did you hear about a light dusting of snow shutting down some southern US city?”

Canadians, when you suggest
it’s possible to bike past September: “but what if I get… cold?”

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Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Sean Devine @seandevine9.bsky.social · 7d

Great to be here with my team at Designing a Better City, organized by @toondreessen.bsky.social. This is an exciting conversation about how to make our city’s built form better, more sustainable and more beautiful.

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 8d

Pat is doing the hard work that needs to be done for us to make the right decisions in this city. Great job Pat!

Pat Bickerton @pbickerton.bsky.social · 8d

Over at @strongtownsottawa.ca we've calculated the productivity of different development patterns in #OttCity. Tax per hectare is easy.

Lately, I've been estimating the cost of servicing. These numbers are much more abstract but it's been fun.

Here is some data I'm tracking.

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 8d

Lets get one of these bad boys on Bank Street! N-S could use a couple easier connections from the city as well, instead of being bogged down behind single occupancy vehicles! - Marko

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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 8d

This is why we need bus lands on Bank Street. We don’t need extensive consultations or debates or both side-ism to find a “balance;” we need bold action, bold leadership to design public space in the public interest and just do it. @strongtownsottawa.ca

Glen Gower @glengower.ca · 8d

Between the bus-only lanes, and the off-ramp detours, we’ve barely slowed down. Unless you’re on a bus, it’s a parking lot out there.

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Glen Gower @glengower.ca · 8d

An @octranspo.com double decker bus this morning, skipping ahead of all the traffic in our bus-only lane from Kanata. 👍

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Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Hans on the Bike @hansonthebike.bsky.social · 9d

The number of fines went op bc we installed a lot more cameras. That the average speed actually went down, as is the purpose of the cameras, is shown in this image by @strongtownsottawa.ca

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Reposted by Strong Towns Ottawa

Pat Bickerton @pbickerton.bsky.social · 10d

Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras are working in College Ward.

I graphed the 85th percentile speed of cars by the age of the camera. College Ward has two older cameras (1000+ days) and 2 x younger (100 days).

You can see how speeds quickly trend downward once the cameras are installed.

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 13d

And proper transit dedicated lanes! Funding and scheduling can only do so much when single occupancy vehicles are blocking the way of a bus packed with 50+ people! - Marko

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 15d

“Expanding the average car length from 5 meters (16.4 ft) to 5.5 meters (18 ft) decreases street parking spots by 9.3%, while an additional expansion to 6m (19.7 ft) causes a further loss of 7%…the growing share of larger vehicles has caused many on-street parking spots to effectively disappear.”

Meet the Montreal Mayor Who Declared War on SUVs

Oversized vehicles are devouring street parking spaces in the Canadian city. So one borough’s mayor is fighting back with bigger fees for hefty trucks and SUVs.

www.bloomberg.com

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14d

Exactly, that building is definitely not pulling more from infrastructure than it's contributing through DCs and property tax. - Marko

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14d

Oh completely agree, the Kanata Links development is absolutely atrocious, there was so much potential and they just did the most basic SFH sprawl that you could ask for...

I wasn't implying that they'd be the same, just that anyone can make anything sound good with words. - Marko

Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14d

We're focusing on the wrong problems. Community Benefit Charges that fund our parks are not the reason housing is too expensive. That ~$500,000,000 Greenbank "Realignment" (Widening) though? Yea that's probably gonna put a dent in the housing affordability from DCs.

It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 14d

170 Slater, the collapsed parking garage being redeveloped into 538 residential units.

Community Benefits Charge (CBC): ~$600,000
Development Charges (DC): ~$13,000,000

Of those DCs, about $3-million goes exclusively towards suburban arterial roads. Those should be eliminated long before the CBCs.

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14d

It is quite literally almost exclusively low density housing in the form of single-family homes, yet claims it's got a "unique mix of housing types", and that it will "integrate seamlessly". The words don't match the actual built form unfortunately. - Marko

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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 14d

We've seen a lot of "urban-washing" in recent years, take the development on Kanata Links golf course that's supposed to go forward.

kanatapossibilities.ca

Kanata Possibilities

kanatapossibilities.ca

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